


Snow Fight and Chill

by sgteam14283



Category: Fable (Video Games), Fable 3 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Developing Relationship, F/M, Gen, NaNoWriMo, Snowball Fight, Snowed In
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-09-01 01:01:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8600947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sgteam14283/pseuds/sgteam14283
Summary: Even during a blizzard Ben and the Hero manage to have fun.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this during NaNoWriMo 2015 and when the Chicago area experienced the first snowfall of the season. Takes place during my ModernAU but not within the story itself (more of a 'what if' scenario). Thanks to sweettartsloveryo for help with the title! Don't own anything you recognize and enjoy!

It was supposed to be a day trip to Mistpeak, just to see how the National Park was coming along and how Sabine was organizing everything. The weather reports had said it was going to snow, but it’d be less than an inch and wouldn’t stick around for the entire day. When Lina and Ben drove over the newly reconstructed bridge and into the village, the first few flakes started to appear and Lina smiled to herself. “ _It seems like winter is finally here._ ” She thought while stepping out of the car and walking to where Sabine and the counsel were waiting.

Then an hour later when everyone stepped outside after their meeting they saw that the occasional flake had turned into a light snowfall but Lina still wasn’t concerned, it was only supposed to last another hour and then the sun would melt whatever was around. But as they started to walk through what would be one of the many hiking trails the snow increased, the wind picked up, and the temperature plummeted. And even though the snow was accumulating, Lina was still confident that they’d make it back to the palace in time for a late dinner.

Warming themselves in the community building after spending so much time outside, Lina glanced out the window and for the first time didn’t like what she was seeing; near whiteout conditions and it wasn’t showing any signs of stopping. As their departure time neared she started to wonder if they should just spend the night and travel back in the morning, then Ben appeared and said that the motorway had just been shut down. The slush that had formed when it first started snowing was turning to ice, making travel conditions downright unsafe.

Then the power went out.

Never fazed by anything Sabine easily snapped into organizer mode, ordering Boulder and the others to make sure that everyone in the village could keep warm until the power came back on. Saying that those who didn’t have enough blankets or firewood would come to the community center; there was a giant fireplace and they’d all stay there for the night.

Since Sabine had everything under control, Lina stepped outside to watch the kids play in the snow. The shrieking and laughing as some made a snowman while others started an impromptu snowball fight reminded Lina of when things were simpler; playing with Elliot and Logan on the palace grounds and tracking in snow as they ran to the kitchen for hot chocolate and cookies.

“They seem happy.” Ben said as he moved next to Lina and glanced at the Queen who looked smart in her grey pea coat, red knit hat and matching gloves. “And they should be, all this snow? I would’ve killed for this while in Mourningwood.”

Lina smiled at the comment, but agreed; during her brief time at the fort she’d wondered how they stood the muggy weather year-round. “When I was little I loved the snow, it was all Walter could do to keep me indoors when it was bitterly cold and I wanted to go outside.”

“My brother’s and I set up a snow shoveling business around town for those who couldn’t be arsed to do it themselves, although they had me do most of the work and took most of the money. But my favorite part was shoving snow down each other’s shirt and laughing as they tried to get it out.”

Lina was about to ask Ben how many times his brothers had gotten him when suddenly she saw a snowball heading towards her face. It hit her with a soft crunch and she was left sputtering in surprise while clearing the remaining snow off. Looking at Ben she saw him smirking and knew that he’d been the culprit. “You just made a big mistake Captain.” Lina replied with a laugh as she quickly packed some snow in a ball and threw it at him, hitting him square in the chest.

Ben was surprised when Lina managed to hit him, but he didn’t think she could hit a moving target. “I think I know what I’m doing, Your Highness.” he retorted while bending down to scoop up another snowball and threw it at Lina while taking off towards the children.

The snowball hit Lina’s shoulder and exploded into a thousand pieces, flying all over Lina’s jacket and she smiled while chasing after Ben, picking up snow here and there until she had a decent sized missile. “Hey, no using the kids as human shields!” she shouted while trying to get a clean shot. Finally spotting an opportunity, Lina threw the snowball but it sailed past his coattails and smashed harmlessly to the ground where it exploded.

“No rules during a snowball fight Princess!” Ben smiled as the snowball just missed him and slid to a stop behind a tree. “Besides, we’re tall enough to avoid hitting them.”

“Is that so?” Lina called out as she tried to figure out where Ben was hiding. Darting through the throng of kids, she rounded a tree and saw him ahead. Ducking back so he couldn’t see her, Lina quickly bent down to pack together more snow. Satisfied with the size of the snowball, she straightened and rounded the corner while pulling back her arm to throw it, pausing when she saw that Ben had disappeared. Suddenly she felt something cold slide down her jacket and jumped, dropping the snowball. “Ben!” Lina shrieked while twisting and turning, trying to get the snow out of her clothes.

Ben moved backwards as she playfully pushed him away and hit a patch of ice. Feeling his feet start to slip, he flailed his arms; trying to grab hold of something to keep him from falling and took hold of Lina’s coat. But he was off balance already and took her down with him. They hit the ground with a muffled thud and for a second Ben’s vision was filled with red wool.

Lina gasped when Ben pulled her down with him but as her body collapsed against his couldn’t help but laugh. It had been ages since she’d had this much fun and it was good to have an impromptu vacation-even if it was because they were snowed in. “You alright?” she asked while shifting so she could look at Ben.

“Never better.” Ben winked at Lina while wrapping his arms around her and looked into her blue eyes. “How about you?”

“Enjoying the view.” Lina felt her cheeks tingle and she didn’t know if it was because of how close to Ben she was or the cold. She thought it was both as her heart started to beat faster and Ben flashed her the playboy smile he always gave the maids when he ran into one of them. “You smile for all the girls don’t you Captain.”

“Only for the pretty ones.”

Lina rolled her eyes at the statement, “Does that line ever work?”

“Did it work on you?”

“No.”

“Then no.” Ben dimly heard yelling and shifted Lina so he could see what the commotion was about. The kids were running towards the community building and he guessed that they were finally set up in there for the rest of the day. “Looks like they’re ready inside. Want to stay here for a few more moments without screaming children running around us?”

“We should get inside. Any more time outside and we might freeze and where would the country be without a Queen?” Lina said as she begrudgingly rolled off of Ben and cautiously got up so she wouldn’t get any more snow under her jacket. As it was she was going to be soaked for the rest of the evening and didn’t want to get sick after this.

“I dunno...be a full democracy? Or you could give Wally the throne and move up here, we’d live in a small house and do nothing but read and annoy each other.” Ben teased as he got up as well, shaking the snow off of his jacket and out from his collar.

“As tempting as that sounds, I think I’ll pass. Besides the others might not like the idea of me giving up the throne so soon after taking it from Logan.” Lina said as she breathed out a large puff of air and watched as it disappeared. “Let’s get inside, I can feel my shirt freezing as we speak.”

“I can-”

“Do not finish that sentence Captain.”

Ben closed his mouth and simply took Lina’s hand as they walked towards the building. It had started to clear up by this time but Ben knew that the roads wouldn’t reopen until tomorrow morning at the earliest-from what he had seen on the news alerts the small blizzard had delayed or canceled most flights at the airport in the capital and while the southern part of the country had gotten some snow, the mountains had gotten much more than predicted. “ _Hopefully the snow crews can clear the roads overnight and we'll be back in the capital by the afternoon._ ” He thought while opening the door to let Lina in first.

The rush of warm air coming from the large fireplace warmed them up quickly and soon both Ben and Lina were enjoying the company of Sabine and a number of Dweller families; enjoying the dinner and watching the children run around playing with each other. As the evening drew on, they pulled out the sleeping bags and air mattresses and Lina and Ben slipped up to the small apartment on the second floor; but it was so cold up there that they quickly came back down and got sleeping bags of their own.

Listening to the dim crackle and pop of the logs in the fireplace Lina looked at Ben next to her and faintly smiled; she enjoyed this time with him, it had been nice to just be with him for a day, no one caring about what was proper or the staff gossiping about the Queen having a snowball fight with her bodyguard. Turning around and closing her eyes, Lina was finally drifting off when she felt Ben’s arm across her side and shifted closer so that he could fully embrace her.

—

Ben heard his mobile buzz and cracked an eye open, dimly aware of Lina’s close proximity to him. Moving slowly so he didn’t wake her, he pulled out his mobile and saw that he had a slew of messages. Not wanting to see what kind of bad news it was first thing in the morning, he set it down and was drifting off again when it buzzed-Lina’s as well. “What is going on?” he muttered while letting out a sigh and picked his mobile up again. Pulling up the messages he raised an eyebrow to see that Walter, Paige, Kalin, and a number of boys from the brigade had sent him multiple messages.

The messages from the guys in the brigade were vague and confusing, most of them congratulating him. Confused as to what was going on Ben sat up, the cold air woke him up almost right away. Looking at the vaguely threatening ones Paige left him made Ben wonder what he had done this time and scrolled down to Kalin’s; which the first one contained a link.

Pressing it, he saw that it led to a gossip site and as it loaded Ben got a sinking feeling in his stomach. Then the headline loaded, something along the lines of "the Queen has snowy romp with bodyguard", and his eyes went wide.

“Shit…” Ben breathed as he scrolled down and saw photos from when they were having the snowball fight as well as when they were on the ground. While Ben would admit the photos certainly _looked_ compromising, especially the ones where they were laying in the snow, it seemed like everything was being taken out of context.

“What’s going on?” Lina asked sleepily, having heard Ben curse. Stretching, she sat up and saw Ben looking at his mobile with a worried expression on his face.

“Oh nothing, just the tabloids publishing click bait articles to get a lot of traffic.” he replied while automatically shutting off his mobile.

“Ben.” Lina gave him the look that said she wasn’t buying what he was saying while standing and he sighed, handing over his phone because she’d find out sooner or later.

Lina looked at the tabloid headline and the photos. Raising an eyebrow she couldn’t help but smile and stifled her laughter. “That’s good, I’ll give them that.”

“Sorry?” Ben was confused because the last time there’d been a headline insinuating that they were more than friends Lina had been ready to fire off a rebuttal that would’ve made things even worse and had to be talked down by Paige.

“I figured something like this might happen but I’m actually surprised it took this long to get the article up.” Lina handed Ben his mobile back and stretched while gathering up her things. “I think the power came back on sometime last night so we should be able to head back to the capitol after breakfast.”

“I’ll start chipping off the ice on the car.” Ben smiled as Lina started to head towards the stairs. “Princess?”

Lina paused and turned to look at Ben. “Yes?”

"I don’t want to-what I mean is...if you still need time...” he trailed off, suddenly flustered and not sure what to say.

Lina walked slowly back towards Ben and gave him a slight kiss on the cheek. “Does that clear things up?”

“I think so.” Ben smiled as he took hold of Lina’s hand and pulled her in for a full kiss. It was as soft and warm as the one in the courtyard the night of her coronation but at the same time was different-there was no surprise of the kiss itself and both felt the underlying heat. And as much as he wanted to keep going, Ben knew that people would be waking up soon so he broke away from Lina and took a step back. “I’ll wait for you here.” he said while smoothing back his hair and giving her a wink.

Lina nodded and quickly made her way up the stairs towards the small apartment to freshen up and get ready to travel back to Bowerstone. “ _Walter is going to have a fit over the tabloid article but the best thing we can do is to ignore the gossip, even if it’s eventually going to be true._ ” she thought while glancing outside at the world that was completely covered in white. “ _But it’ll be alright._ ”


End file.
